GAMBLES. 501 



The injudicious practice adopted by the Land Office in Singa- 

 pore, of granting indiscriminate licenses, or " cutting papers " as 

 they are termed, seems open to objection, and is driving many of 

 the Chinese cultivators to the neighbouring island of Johore, where 

 they readily obtain permission to cultivate, without obstruction, 

 this important article of commerce. Parties of 300 or 400 at a 

 time left in 1846. It appears that, under his permissive license, 

 the squatter obtains permission to clear as much land as he possibly 

 can, but the order does not define any extent beyond which no 

 cutting should take place. The squatter clears as much land as 

 the means at his disposal will allow, in the hope and expectation 

 that the jungle contiguous to the cleared ground will be at his 

 command for fuel a supply of fuel, easy of access, and adequate 

 to the number of plants grown, being indispensable to the culture 

 and manufacture of gambier. When the time for gathering the 

 leaves arrives, another squatter (perhaps from motives of envy or 

 malice) obtains a " cutting paper," and commences clearing in 

 close proximity to the already-formed gambier plantation; obviously 

 depriving the owner of the fuel he has reasonably calculated upon. 

 The established planter cannot of course eject the intruder from 

 the land, since the latter possesses an equal right to it, in virtue 

 of his "cutting paper," which, as it specifies no limits, leaves him 

 the disposer or destroyer of the crop of the industrious planter. 

 Instead of the present system, a better practice ought to be intro- 

 duced, defining the boundaries to be included in a " cutting paper," 

 and effectually preventing a trespass on the fuel-land of the indus- 

 trious planter. This might easily be effected by specifying the 

 number of acres, as well as the direction, in every clearing paper 

 granted. 



The average produce of gambier in Singapore is between 

 7,000 and 8,000 piculs monthly. The ordinary price is about 

 1^ dollars per picul. A deficiency of rain, labor, or other causes, 

 will occasionally reduce the annual produce from 90,000 or 100,000 

 piculs, to 60,000 or 70,000, and this diminished supply will raise 

 the market price of the article probably 35 cents per picul. But, 

 in addition to the effect occasioned by a deficient supply, there 

 are other causes in operation exercising a powerful influence in 

 reducing prices. Gambier was first exported in 1830, from Singa- 

 pore, to the extent of 2,587 piculs, at 4|- dollars per picul. As a 

 rival to bark it failed at so costly a price to meet with encourage- 

 ment ; the culture and manufacture consequently declined until 

 1834, when 1,858 piculs were shipped to England at a somewhat 

 lower rate. The demand then became active, the exportations 

 were at first multiplied, then doubled every succeeding year, until 

 they reached, in 1846-47 no less than 173,117 piculs. The price 

 has gradually declined to li dollars per picul, at which rate, it 

 displaces its rival, bark. This price, however, is unremunerative 

 to the grower, so that, unless more encouragement offers, the 

 supply will decline. 



The number of Chinese employed in the cultivation, &c., of 



